Monthly Editorial Curation by Phing

Stories I Would Return To: Personal Collection #01

A personal curation of thoughtful stories worth reading, sharing, and keeping

Image created by author

Hello, dear writers and discerning readers,

Welcome to this FIRST monthly collection.

I serve as an editor in the following seven ILLUMINATION publications. As a new curator, through this collection, I would like to share selected stories from across these publications that have stayed with me as a reader and editor.

This is not a ranking, a contest, or a formal award. It is a personal act of reading, attention, and appreciation. Every month, I hope to gather stories marked by sincerity, depth, or community power.

Some pieces may be philosophical. Others may be literary, reflective, scientific, spiritual, cultural, psychological, or deeply personal. What I look for is the presence of living thought within the writing, regardless of category

Selected Stories Across These Publications

Now, let us turn to the stories.

[embed]ILLUMINATION We curate & disseminate outstanding stories from diverse domains to create synergy. Apply…medium.com

1. Dr Mehmet Yildiz

[embed]SATISFACTION: Neurobiological, Psychological, Philosophical, and Spiritual Perspectives A Multi-Layered and Nuanced Scientific Inquiry into One of Life’s Most Misunderstood Yet Vital Statesmedium.com

2. Dr Albert Jones

[embed]Review of Train Your Brain for a Healthier and Happier Life Why I Found This Book Helpful as a Retired Psychiatrist and Lifelong Mental Health Advocatemedium.com

3. Dr. Pamela Ramirez, PsyD, MD

[embed]Do All Sins Deserve Forgiveness Here is the truth without the sugar coatingmedium.com

4. Bill Abbate

[embed]Turning Trouble Into Triumph Win the battle before it beginsmedium.com

5. Dr. Bekim Belica

[embed]Rebuild the Heart You Broke What Islam Teaches About Repentance, Justice, and the Wounds We Leave in Othersmedium.com

6. Sofia K

[embed]Can a Man Be Happy with Any Woman? Of Course — If He Does Not Have To Love or Know Her.medium.com

7. Magmastar

[embed]The Erosion of Toxic People: How I Learned to Say “No” Without Guilt Why I stopped being a free spiritual guide for energy vampires and let the rain wash away the “bad earth.medium.com

8. Amy Liu

[embed]Tinnitus: The Message Behind the Ringing The body’s hidden connections through a TCM lensmedium.com

9. Elizabeth Woods

[embed]A Change in Perspective Have You Tried It?medium.com

10. Tyrone Petersen

[embed]Silence Was Once a Form of Intelligence The world is loud. Your mind doesn’t have to bemedium.com

11. Dr Jeff W Welsh

[embed]Separate Time A Mindfulness Paradigm for Modern Lifemedium.com

[embed]ILLUMINATION Philosophy and Metaphysics A publication devoted to philosophy, metaphysics, ethics, consciousness, cognition, psychology, mindfulness…medium.com

1. Dr Mehmet Yildiz

[embed]Creative Use of Apophenia for Superlearning: Being Able to See Patterns Without Getting Deluded How Pattern-Seeking Minds Can Discover Insight and When the Signal Becomes Noise, Which Requires Deliberate Filteringmedium.com

2. Dr Michael Broadly, DHSc

[embed]Respecting Faith Without Surrendering to Dogma Exploring Religious Thought Through the Lens of Scientific Curiositymedium.com

3. Marcus Viveiro

[embed]The Ego Is Not Your Enemy. It’s Your Oldest Story. And the problem with old stories is that we forget they’re fiction.medium.com

4. Nazli Aydin (Misselbereth)

[embed]Ents, the Elder Scroll, and the Existential Dread of Being In a Hurry: Why Heidegger’s Being and… Or, how a 3,000-year-old forest creature who takes 45 minutes to say “Good morning” accidentally solved the crisis of…medium.com

5. FMOO Project

[embed]What If Consciousness Never Sleeps? Notes from the Thresholdmedium.com

6. Karishma Tripathy

[embed]Wu Wei In Real Life You may not have to do a thing in life after reading thismedium.com

7. Amy Gunter, Ed.D., MSW

[embed]Centuries Part Imedium.com

8. Amy Gunter, Ed.D., MSW

[embed]Centuries Part II Photo by Vallery Milligan on Unsplashmedium.com

9. Gary L. Fretwell

[embed]The Ink-Stained Soul: Beyond the Costume of the Writer The Weight of Borrowed Identitymedium.com

10. Saima Akther✨

[embed]The Quiet Ways Trauma Changes You Small Wounds Can Shape Big Behaviorsmedium.com

[embed]ILLUMINATION Scholar Hosting research-based content from scholarly writers contributing to the Digitalmehmet, the Journal of Emerging…medium.com

1. Dr Mehmet Yildiz

[embed]Who Keeps the Score? My Hypothesis of Embodied Cognition LIFE Matrix™ for Dynamic Trauma Updating What If the Body, Mind, and Environment Have Been Updating the Score Together All Along? How Predictive Processing…medium.com

2. Dr Michael Broadly, DHSc

[embed]Neurocognitive and Affective Differences Between Erotic and Pornographic Stimuli in the Brain A neuroscience and public health perspective on how the brain processes sexual imagery, imagination, emotion, and…medium.com

3. Nazli Aydin (Misselbereth)

[embed]Two Kings, One River, and the Wind’s Cruel Joke: The Static Balance of Argonath (or How Scale… Why two 150-meter stone kings shouldn’t be standing, why they are anyway, and what that teaches us about beautiful…medium.com

[embed]Curated Newsletters Outstanding stories objectively and diligently selected by senior editors on ILLUMINATION. Contact us via…medium.com

1. Dr Mehmet Yildiz

[embed]Why Executive Communication Determines Authority and Eminence When you communicate in a way that orients rather than directs, influence becomes durable. People listen and follow as…medium.com

2. Dr Mehmet Yildiz

[embed]Super Learning: How I Accelerated My Learning Effortlessly for a Happier Life Invitation to Model My Neuroscience-Backed Approach in 12 Easy Steps — An Introduction to the SMART MIND Loop™…medium.com

3. Gary L. Fretwell

[embed]The Self-Help Idea I Trusted Most Was Keeping Me Stuck We all quote the same line from Epictetus. We forgot the half that actually sets you free.medium.com

4. Peace Beyond Thought

[embed]5 Simple Daily Practices To Help You Release Control and Find Peace Discover 5 simple daily practices to help you let go of control, quiet overthinking, and return to peace through…medium.com

[embed]SYNERGY SYNERGY hosts articles about all aspects of writing, editing, blogging, and freelancing. Inquiries…medium.com

1. Nazli Aydin (Misselbereth)

[embed]Second Breakfast Was Just the Beginning: A Sincerely Unhinged Guide to Achieving Shire-Cottagecore… In which we reject the tyranny of minimalist “sad beige” kitchens, embrace the art of perennial snacking, and remodel…medium.com

2. Ugur Karamuti

[embed]What Exists Between a Greek Relief and a Medium Article? Even after thousands of years, the voice inside the human being may have remained the same.medium.com

3. Shannon O’Brien

[embed]The ISBN Mystery Solved: A Step-by-Step Guide for First-Time Authors When I published my first book, Stray: Breaking Free, Falling Hard and Growing Stronger, I remember staring at the…medium.com

[embed]ILLUMINATION Local News and Documentary Covering stories of local news and documentaries on every topicmedium.com

1. Dr Michael Broadly, DHSc

[embed]Interest Rates Are Rising Again in Australia, Testing Our Patients A Late-Life Reflection on Property, Policy, and Perspectivemedium.com

2. Vipul Maurya

[embed]How Manipur Broke Apart Three years of conflict, displacement, and distrustmedium.com

3. Annelise Lords

[embed]Aging — I Go Deeper In Everything In My Life. Is that why I feel everything from a painful depth?medium.com

4. Maithilee Singh

[embed]Urban Heat in India: The Danger of Heat That Never Leaves A Crisis Killing More Than We Countmedium.com

5. Amy Gunter, Ed.D., MSW

[embed]Why California Is Losing Students and How Schools Can Win Them Back “We have to make cuts,” said the school district administration back in 2024. California school districts knew…medium.com

6. Arthur Keith

[embed]New Mexico May Be the First State Without Facebook and Instagram A tale of David and Goliathmedium.com

[embed]ILLUMINATION Book Chapters Submit your book chapters in story format. Inquiries: https://digitalmehmet.com/ Subscribe to our content marketing…medium.com

1. Dr Mehmet Yildiz

[embed]Neurostrategy: The Human Aspects for Health and Well-Being in the Digital Economy Why Sustainable Authority Must Be Built on Clarity, Trust, Wellness, Neurofitness, and Human Connection with a More…medium.com

2. Dr Michael Broadly, DHSc

[embed]Foreword to “The Cartography of Unbecoming” by Liauw Pauw Phing Why a Retired Scientist Has an Interest in a Philosophical and Metaphysical Bookmedium.com

3. Dr Michael Broadly, DHSc

[embed]Foreword to Intentional Retirement Book Written by Gary L Fretwell Perspectives of Retired Person on This Insightful and Empowering Bookmedium.com

4. Gary L. Fretwell

[embed]The One Question That Determines Whether Retirement Feels Fulfilling or Empty Retirement isn’t about the abundance of hours; it’s about the clarity of purpose.medium.com

More Curated Collections by Fellow Editors

You may also enjoy reading the latest collections curated by other editors in the ILLUMINATION community.

Read stories on the list “Insightful & Illuminating Stories I Enjoyed Reading“ by Dr Mehmet Yildiz on Medium. Dr Yildiz has a massive list of 13462 stories, which keeps growing. Here is the link to it.

[embed]List: Insightful & Illuminating Stories I Enjoyed Reading | Curated by Dr Mehmet Yildiz | Medium Insightful & Illuminating Stories I Enjoyed Reading · I collect these valuable stories as a reference for my loyal…medium.com

Read “Mike’s Favorite Stories on ILLUMINATION Publications — #277“ by Dr Michael Broadly, DHSc on Medium:

[embed]Mike’s Favorite Stories on ILLUMINATION Publications — #277 As an editor and content curator, I feature engaging stories that you may enjoy as well, after some quick updates on…medium.com

Read “Look What Aiden Found Today: Episode #351“ by Aiden (Owner of Illumination Gaming) on Medium:

[embed]Look What Aiden Found Today: Episode #351 Favorite stories I read, plus community-nominated pieces tailored for avid readers of ILLUMINATION Publications on…medium.com

For Potential Contributors

ILLUMINATION now supports more than 42,000 writers with only 30 volunteer editors. Medium’s current editor limit prevents us from formally adding more editors, despite our wider group of 209 volunteers. ILLUMINATION is followed by more than 317,000 readers, and we continue to support writers who write with honesty, care, and clarity.

New writers may apply to ILLUMINATION Integrated Publications through our writer registration portal by submitting Medium ID.

Writers interested in ILLUMINATION Scholar may use the dedicated Scholar registration portal.

Before submitting your stories, please review our quality checklists and The Master Copy Onboarding Information for New Writers of ILLUMINATION Integrated Publications by Dr Mehmet Yildiz. You are also welcome to join the ILLUMINATION Community on Medium and Substack.

You may also discover new writers joining our publications through the ILLUMINATION account. The latest onboarding pack, prepared by Aiden (Owner of Illumination Gaming), offers clear guidance for writers who have recently joined our community.

[embed]Onboarding New Writers Joining ILLUMINATION Publications Today: #213 Welcome with an acknowledgment of your acceptance to ILLUMINATION Integrated Publications on Medium, with helpful links…medium.com

Publications in the ILLUMINATION Ecosystem

Writers are welcome to choose the publication that best fits their topic and intended audience.

ILLUMINATION, Curated Newsletters, ILLUMINATION’S MIRROR, ILLUMINATION Book Chapters, The Lampshade of ILLUMINATION, Technology Hits, SYNERGY, Readers Hope, ILLUMINATION on YouTube, ILLUMINATION Gaming, ILLUMINATION Health & Science, Integrated Healthcare, Magnetic Newsletter Pro, Substack Mastery Boost, From Zero to Substack Hero, ILLUMINATION’s Blog, EUPHORIA by Dr Mehmet Yildiz, ILLUMINATION Scholar, ILLUMINATION Local News and Documentary, ILLUMINATION Philosophy and Metaphysics, ILLUMINATION Retirement, Aging, and Legacy, and ILLUMINATION for India.

Updated Submission Guidelines for Major Publications

Please review the relevant guidelines before submitting your drafts. They contain information about scope, quality expectations, editorial standards, and publication fit.

[embed]Time to Prune the Branches of Our Big Oak Tree: ILLUMINATION’s Evolution to New Heights Introducing New Submission Guidelines to Empower Writers with a Refined Strategy for ILLUMINATION 2.0medium.com

[embed]From ILLUMINATION-Curated to Curated Newsletters: The Spirit Lives On, Stronger Than Ever Welcome to Curated Newsletters submission guidelines. It reflects the future of writing for every authentic writer…medium.com

[embed]SYNERGY (Newsletter Booster): Submission Guidelines 2024 Updated rules to publish your drafts in this specialized publication for writers, book authors, bloggers, and content…medium.com

[embed]Technology Hits: New Submission Guidelines — 2024 Join a unique publication supporting writers penning about technology to find a broad audience using the power of…medium.com

[embed]Health and Science Publication Submission Guidelines 2025 This special publication is part of ILLUMINATION on Medium and the Health and Wellbeing Network on Substackmedium.com

[embed]ILLUMINATION Book Chapters: Submission Guidelines 2024 If you are a book author or planning to write a book, you can write for this unique publication on Medium which awards…medium.com

[embed]Readers Hope: Updated Submission Guidelines, November 2024 Discovering Your Writing Voice: A Beginner’s Guide to Safely Building Your Audience with Encouragement, HOPE, and…medium.com

[embed]ILLUMINATION Gaming: Submission Guidelines 2023 Guidance to Gamers to Write Better Stories on Mediummedium.com

[embed]ILLUMINATION Videos and Podcasts: Submission Guidelines 2023 Guidance to writers, podcasters, and YouTubers to write better stories on Mediummedium.com

[embed]Welcome to “Magnetic Newsletter Pro,” Replacing “Substack Mastery” Publication on Medium The main reason is to make my publications platform independent and empower freelance writers to write magnetic…medium.com

[embed]Substack Mastery Boost Publication Submission Guidelines A New Publication for Freelance Writers and Content Entrepreneursmedium.com

[embed]ILLUMINATION Scholar Submission Guidelines 1st Draft Welcome to ILLUMINATION Scholar, a Home for Thoughtful Inquiry and Research-Driven Storytelling, Bringing Bright Minds…medium.com

[embed]Welcome to “ILLUMINATION Local News and Documentary” Publication, Opening on 19 March 2026 A Global Platform for Authentic Local Voices and Enjoyment of Discerning Readers Following ILLUMINATION publications on…medium.com

[embed]Introduction to ILLUMINATION: Retirement, Aging, and Legacy Initial Submission Guidelines and Reflections from a Retired Healthcare Professionalmedium.com

[embed]ILLUMINATION Philosophy and Metaphysics: Initial Submission Guidelines Welcome to a new publication within the ILLUMINATION Integrated Publications ecosystemmedium.com

[embed]Submission Guidelines: ILLUMINATION for India A geography-focused publication within the ILLUMINATION Integrated Publications ecosystem established by Dr Mehmet…medium.com

A Note to New Writers

Much of my editorial work has focused on helping new writers get published. Many of them do not yet have a large following, and I understand how difficult that can be. Lately, I have seen quite a few new writers whose work is strong and still awaits publication.

Usually, writers who are already well known and have a larger following tend to be published more quickly. At the same time, I do not want to publish carelessly, especially when a topic lies outside my area of understanding.

For this reason, I try to read each piece on its own terms, with care for both the writer and the reader. A good publication does justice to emerging voices and to readers’ trust, in equal measure. Editorial care means placing each story where it can meet the right reader, not simply accepting it.

I hope this collection brings thoughtful writers and attentive readers into the same conversation.

A Brief Note on My Publication

ILLUMINATION Philosophy and Metaphysics is devoted to philosophy, metaphysics, spirituality, mindfulness, psychology, ethics, consciousness, and the enduring questions of human life.

I introduced the purpose of this publication in ILLUMINATION Philosophy and Metaphysics: An Introduction by the Owner, where I described it as a house for unfinished questions.

I see this publication as a space for rigorous, humane inquiry. It welcomes writing that respects both clarity and mystery, evidence and inwardness, disciplined thought and the subtle textures of lived experience.

For writers who wish to contribute, please read the initial submission guidance prepared by Dr Michael Broadly, DHSc: ILLUMINATION Philosophy and Metaphysics: Initial Submission Guidelines.

I am grateful to Dr Michael Broadly, DHSc for preparing this helpful guide with precision and editorial care.

Gratitude

I wish to express my gratitude to Dr Mehmet Yildiz, the founder of ILLUMINATION Integrated Publications, for establishing ILLUMINATION in 2020 and guiding this writing and reading community with steady leadership.

My thanks also go to Aiden (Owner of Illumination Gaming), whose work as an editor, curator, media coordinator, and community supporter strengthens the ILLUMINATION ecosystem across Medium and Substack.

I am also grateful to Dr Michael Broadly, DHSc, who prepared the initial guidelines for ILLUMINATION Philosophy and Metaphysics and supported this new branch of our community.

I was glad to have my editorial background presented more fully in Editorial Bio of Liauw Pauw Phing: A Cross Disciplinary Synthesis, and I am also grateful for the thoughtful conversation with Dr Mehmet Yildiz in Insightful Conversations with Liauw Pauw Phing. These two pieces offer further context about my background, writing, editorial work, and intellectual development.

About Me

I am Liauw Pauw Phing, an Indonesian writer, poet, philosopher, editor, and astacologist. My work moves across poetry, philosophy, metaphysics, spirituality, science, consciousness, language, and the inner architecture of human experience.

As a writer, I am drawn to the threshold between silence and thought, and between inward life and disciplined inquiry. I believe literature and philosophy can help us become more attentive to existence, responsibility, suffering, beauty, and the fragile meanings that shape human life.

As the owner and editor of ILLUMINATION Philosophy and Metaphysics, I hope to support writers whose work carries depth, sincerity, intellectual care, and genuine concern for readers.

Thank you for reading this collection. I hope these stories offer you something worth returning to.

About the book

[embed]The Cartography of Unbecoming Seven Inscriptions in the Archaeology of Identitymedium.com

If this piece has already altered something in your thinking, the book will carry it further.

Author’s Note

With deep gratitude, I wish to thank Dr Mehmet Yildiz for his generous editorial guidance, his discerning eye, and the intellectual care he has given this work.

Here is the editorial review of the book by Dr Mehmet Yildiz:

[embed]The Cartography of Unbecoming Why I Edited a Philosophical, Metaphysical, and Spiritual Bookmedium.com

I am equally indebted to Dr Michael Broadly, DHSc, for the generosity with which he wrote the foreword. I linked his foreword too:

[embed]Foreword to “The Cartography of Unbecoming” by Liauw Pauw Phing Why a Retired Scientist Has an Interest in a Philosophical and Metaphysical Bookmedium.com

Their trust, encouragement, and contributions have shaped this book far beyond anything I could have achieved alone.

I am pleased that the book has been published and is available in several book stores. Here is the official page.

This book is now available for preorders and will be released on 30 April 2026. The early access digital and audio formats are available via Google Books and Google Play. Here is the landing page, which will include digital, paperback, hardcover, and audio links.